Unlikely secret keeper: Masai maid Margret Lekartgi was told of William and Kate's engagement one month ago
She is, perhaps, an unlikely keeper of Royal secrets. But for a month, Margret Lekartgi, a 22-year-old maid from an impoverished town in Kenya, has known about William and Kate’s engagement – while even the Queen, Prince Harry and the Prime Minister were still in the dark.
It was a piece of news entrusted to the quietly-spoken hired hand from the Masai tribe because she attended to the couple during the safari holiday during which the Prince proposed.
Ms Lekartgi, who earns about £75 a month as a maid, said: ‘I was so pleased when I found out about the engagement but we were told not to tell anyone anything about it. They were such lovely people, so happy together.’
She made the young couple’s bed, cleaned their rooms, put away their dirty clothes and, subsequently, was to become one of the very first people in the world to be told the historic news.
And today, speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, Ms Lekartgi, who lives in the impoverished town of Isiolo, in northern Kenya, provides the first definitive account of the events leading to the couple’s engagement.
William proposed to his girlfriend of eight years on the last day of their holiday in a wooden lodge 12,000 feet above sea level on the slopes of Mount Kenya.
Last week, a month after the engagement, the Queen and the rest of the family were told the news and it was announced to the public.
But before all this drama, public or otherwise, Ms Lekartgi bore witness to the couple’s secret adventure as they travelled through Kenya with their hosts, the conservationists Ian and Jane Craig.
Ms Lekartgi talks touchingly, and at times humorously, about the Prince’s kindness for the staff looking after him and the chaos that he caused as his independent spirit led him and his wife-to-be to confound the security teams paid to look after him.
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And she speaks with pride about being told of the Royal engagement almost a month before anyone else.
The couple started their holiday, Ms Lekartgi reveals, at the beginning of October in an area of the jungle in the northern rainlands of Kenya known in Swahili as Ishak Bin. It is managed and conserved by Somali tribes.
The Royal couple braved the wilds with the guidance of Mr Craig, a Kenyan-born farmer and reserve owner, whose daughter Jecca was once romantically linked to William.
Wedding bells: Prince William proposed to his girlfriend of eight years on the last day of their holiday in a wooden lodge in Mount Kenya
And it is understood that William, Kate, Mr Craig and his wife lived, along with two Royal Protection Officers, in tents deep in the bush, far from prying eyes. There they made fires from wood they gathered and enjoyed the peace and tranquility.
A group of armed employees kept a discreet distance from the camp, not as a nod to any terrorist threat to the Royal party, but as an assurance against the lions, rhinos and elephants in close vicinity.
And while Ms Lekartgi was not with the group at this stage, she heard word that Prince William had adored the freedom of life in the wild. ‘They were having the time of their lives. They were just living in tents,’ she said.
After a week in the jungle, however, the group came back to Mr Craig’s 55,000-acre reserve, Lewa Downs, in northern Kenya, and it was here that Ms Lekartgi had her first experience of William and his bride-to-be, who at this stage was still unaware of the proposal to come.
William and Kate stayed at Mr Craig’s four-bedroom home, snug deep behind a barrier of umbrella-like Acacia trees, hidden from view. Despite this, the house – which also boasts a large swimming pool – has some of the best views of the African savannah from its vantage point on a large hill.
Wary of how the heir to the British throne would treat her, Ms Lekartgi was understandably nervous. But she was to be as equally as astonished at William’s friendliness and clear reluctance to ask her to do any chores.
‘From the start he was always smiling and not bossy or Royal at all. Very neat too. The same with Kate’, she said.
Luxury: One of the bedrooms at the Craigs¿ 55,000-acre Lewa Downs reserve where Margret works
‘They spent their days with the Craigs game driving, seeing the lions, elephants and rhinos. But whenever they saw me around they would say hello, always smiling. They were just so very happy all the time.’
The maid said she was amazed when the Prince handed her a $100 note as a tip, which is around £63, or almost a month’s wages. However, when the couple were joined by two friends from South Africa, the newcomers handed over just 100 South African rand, the equivalent of £9.
Day-long game drives became something of a routine for the four friends, Mr Craig, the two Royal Protection officers and a retinue of green-uniformed security staff, whose normal work is to keep poachers at bay.
William also played football with the security guards and guides – ending up on the team that won 2-1. Kate cheered wildly on the sidelines, according to a source.
The routine would only be broken when William and Kate, both 28, were introduced to the workings of the reserve. And on one such occasion, a black rhino, also known as the hook-lipped rhino, was named in William’s honour. The party came across the beast and it was felled with an anaesthetising dart.
William and Kate felt the side of the becalmed rhino as it breathed, deep in sleep. It was then that William agreed to personally sponsor the beast at a cost of £6,000 a year. It was consequently named William, according to a source.
Ms Lekartgi added: ‘They went with Mr Craig and a team of dart shooters to find rhinos which they could dart, mark and monitor.
‘Once the rhino is hit with a dart it has one of its ears cut so it can be recognised in the future. William didn’t shoot the dart, but the Rhino was named in his honour.’
On that night, William and Kate celebrated the adoption of the rhino with one of their favourite meals of the trip.
Ms Lekartgi said: ‘Most of the time they had chicken, fish or beef. But on this night they were given sheep cooked in the Masai-style, which is freshly slaughtered and roasted whole over charcoals. I think they really liked it. I think they were loving the whole experience.’
The rhino expedition was one of many forays into the jungle and further afield. And keeping track of William and Kate’s movements from Mr Craig’s home was nigh on impossible, even for the security teams detailed to look after them.
Royal honour: A black rhino was named William after the Prince agreed to sponsor it
‘Everything he did was very secretive, no one who didn’t need to know was told anything,’ said Ms Lekartgi. ‘And he would constantly change cars whenever he was out of the gates of Lewa Downs.
‘He wouldn’t allow anyone else, except Mr Craig, to drive. In fact, the guards wouldn’t let him in a couple of times because they didn’t recognise the car – then he would wind down the window and say, “Hi guys, it is me”.’
Perhaps bored of the luxury of Mr Craig’s home, William and Kate then went to spend some more time in tents – although these came with running hot and cold water and their own private terraces.
Ms Lekartgi said: ‘They went to Sarara on Mr Craig’s private jet, about a 30-minute flight away. There is a tented camp near an animal waterhole. It is a luxury place though, so they enjoyed that very much. The two South African friends went with them too.’
There the group glimpsed giraffe, elephants, wild dogs and buffalo. They also followed the tracks of a leopard, although it is understood that they didn’t come across one on their walk through the wilderness there.
But it appears that William’s wanderlust was still not sated, and his next trip was to the Rutundu Lake, high on slopes of Mount Kenya. This time, though, it was just Kate and William.
The couple drove up in a Land Cruiser borrowed from Mr Craig. After a five-hour drive they enjoyed fishing in the lake before retiring to a nearby wooden lodge. It is believed that the proposal came on the cabin’s verandah. Certainly Kate wrote in the guestbook at her delight at the cabin’s romantic atmosphere.
The next day the couple were picked up by Mr Craig’s private plane which then took them back down to Lewa Downs.
It was then that they broke the news of their engagement to the Craigs, and Ian Craig brought Margret and her tiny cohort of colleagues into the secret.
Ms Lekartgi said: ‘William and Kate came back from Rutundu and told the Craigs about the engagement. I didn’t see the ring but after Ian had dropped William and Kate off at the airstrip he came back and decided they would be going over to the UK too to celebrate.
‘We were told that there was an engagement party for William and Kate and they were going to leave Lewa to attend, but we were not to tell anyone what it was all about. They left shortly afterwards.
‘So that is when we knew that they were engaged. ‘It is so lovely for them, I am so proud it happened here. We all wish them all the best.’
Kate’s other ring – for just £2.55
Trekking around Kenya with his mother’s engagement ring in his backpack, Prince William admitted to being ‘terrified’ of losing something so unique.
But his future in-laws could have saved him the worry by supplying an alternative ring, left, that looks remarkably similar to the real thing.
In fact William could have had a chocolate, a pirate figure, an eye-patch and party-popper thrown in – all for £2.55.
The ring, sapphire blue and surrounded by ‘diamonds’, is part of the booty in the treasure chest for pirate theme parties advertised on the Middletons’ Party Pieces website.
Perhaps they should pop it in their princess treasure chest gift box instead.
Nod for Posh Spice designer
Prince William and his bride-to-be have given the Royal seal of approval to an interior designer favoured by Victoria Beckham.
In a further sign that the couple are trying to avoid a fusty image, they have handpicked flame-haired Kelly Hoppen, 51, to work for them. Her charges start at £300,000 and her clients also include Hollywood stars.
Launching a ‘loungewear’ range at Harrods on Thursday, she was asked what advice she would give William and Kate about decorating their first home. She replied curtly: ‘I really can’t comment on that.’
Last night a source said: ‘Kelly doesn’t like to talk about high-profile clients until a deal is signed and sealed. Discretion is key. There is nothing concrete with the royal couple. Things are at very, very initial stages.’
Ms Hoppen describes her style as ‘simple yet opulent’.
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